Crittenton owes $29K in late taxes

Florence Crittenton Services was drowning in debt when it decided to close its last Jackson-area shelter.

The nearly century-old agency dedicated to helping teen parents and at-risk youths owes the federal government about $29,000 in taxes, Crittenton board member Karen Lewthwaite said.

And with the state's sour economy and sluggish housing market, the nonprofit's plans to climb out of its financial hole by selling its former Wildwood Avenue site still haven't come to fruition.

"Selling the Wildwood facility is the plan and that's what we're working on," Lewthwaite said.

The closure has left community service leaders wondering how to fill the void.
Lewthwaite said Saturday the agency's ongoing financial trouble and failure to sell the Wildwood Avenue home forced it to lock up the shelter at 1603 Lansing Ave. on Friday. The youths who lived there were sent back to family members or moved to new homes, and staff members were laid off.

It is the second time in less than a year that Crittenton has closed the home due to unpaid taxes.

The Lansing Avenue home was closed temporarily in February after it failed to pay federal payroll taxes and the 14 teens and 13 babies who lived there were moved out.
The shelter reopened after Crittenton board members decided to close and sell the home at 521 Wildwood Ave.

Signs of financial trouble were present before the recent closures.

Employees have said checks from the agency were late or bounced on multiple occasions, including just before Christmas in 2007.

"They were in dire financial straits and approached us and asked us to provide some funding," said Steve Conley, president of the Exchange Club of Jackson.

The club loaned Crittenton about $10,000 this spring, secured by a mortgage on the Wildwood property, to help continue services and stabilize finances.

"We're very concerned and we'll continue to be concerned," Conley said of the agency's financial situation.

Crittenton left an Orange Street location it rented for homeless boys in 2007, moving them to the Wildwood Avenue site.

Its re-entry program that offered counseling and services to youths returning from residential facilities at 924 Fleming Ave. was eliminated in 2006 due to state budget cuts.

Officials acknowledged the agency was having difficulty making payroll on time and said they were looking for ways to preserve existing programs.

But few are stepping forward to fill the gap left by the closure of Jackson's only residential program for troubled teens, said Ken Toll, executive director of the United Way of Jackson County.

"No one else is chomping at the bit to provide those services," Toll said. "We can do a lot of work with these kids, but sometimes they need to get away from their families for a while. This shelter provided our only community stop-gap for that and it was the only place they could go."

The United Way, which provides some money for Crittenton programs, is still looking for agencies that can pick up where Crittenton left off. It plans to meet at the end of the week to discuss potential replacements.

Lewthwaite said the financial problems emerged in 2006 when the agency struggled to secure state funding. In June of that year, payment for 50 employees was delayed when Crittenton lost $70,000 in state support.

Former volunteers and contributors to the Jackson shelter for pregnant and parenting teens and at-risk youths called the closure "heartbreaking" and "sad."

"I'm so very disappointed," said Karen F. Dunigan, founder of Women Who Care, which donated more than $20,000 to the facility last year to replace the heating system and kitchen appliances.

After spending about two months and a few thousand dollars renovating the interior of the facility, Betty Fleming said it was painful to see it close.

"I truly enjoyed doing it. That's why it really hurts to know no one is getting any benefit from it," said Fleming, 72, of Concord, who volunteered to fix up the home.

Now the garden-style sitting room, bathroom, hallways and a bedroom set up in the style "young girls liked" that she spent hours carefully redecorating sits unused.
"It was a lot of work," Fleming said.

Toll said the closure of the Crittenton facility could have a noticeable impact on the community.

"You're talking about the most vulnerable kids going without fundamental services, a place to stay, someone to talk to when they're in trouble and help taking care of their kids," he said. "It's not going to be good for Jackson."